


daphne laureola

by realjane



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-29
Updated: 2020-06-29
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:09:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24982867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/realjane/pseuds/realjane
Summary: Daphne Greengrass was many things--smart, beautiful, cunning... but had no patience for Crabbe blabbing her business around the castle. If he ever wanted to be with her again, he'd have to pay the price.Written for Round 1 of Draco's Den Half-Blood Prince Drabble ChallengePotion: Hiccuping/Hiccoughing Potion
Relationships: Vincent Crabbe/Daphne Greengrass
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9
Collections: Half-Blood Prince Drabble Elimination Challenge





	daphne laureola

**Author's Note:**

> Daphne is happy to punish him... you might say it turns her on. Crabbe is going to learn to be okay with that!

"Don't touch," she murmured as his bare hand crept towards the stem. 

Crabbe snickered. "Sure, Daph. It's a bloody plant, what can it do--"

"Every part of spurge-laurel is poisonous until stirred in with the morels. Protection is required." She wiggled her gloved fingers. Crabbe retracted his hand and stepped around the desk to the front of the cauldron. He tried to get a peek at the concoction already cooking. "Don't breathe in the steam," she warned.

"Or what?"

She passed the blade down the long stem; the fibrous plant split to reveal the heart of the potion, a caustic sap. "Or," she said, scraping the sap onto the scale, "you'll be snorting pus for a week."

Crabbe crossed his arms and leaned away from their table. "Why did I agree to this?"

Daphne smiled but said nothing. 

She had made it explicitly clear: _You don’t get to sleep with a girl and then call her a slag. You don’t get to blow her skirt up in the Great Hall. You don't get to kiss and tell._

She gave Crabbe one choice to pay his penance: test her potions for the rest of the term. If he refused? He'd test them eventually... when she slipped them into his punch, or baked them into his favorite biscuits. She would get creative. He had conceded after being unable to determine if she was serious about knowing a penis-shriveling potion. If he obeyed, then maybe he would get to see her naked again. 

Slughorn had been all-too-happy to teach them the hiccoughing potion when she suggested it. She was his best student.

She dribbled the sap into the cauldron with the tip of her wand, stirring counterclockwise eleven times until the liquid turned gold in color. Daphne wafted the steam towards her. Sickly-sweet with a tang of citrus. Perfect. 

Slughorn inspected their concoction, asking little of Crabbe and looking pointedly at Daphne when she insisted it had been a group effort with an innocent expression on her face. He gestured for them to commence with the testing of the potion; he kept a variety of vessels in the storeroom for testing. Daphne chose a teacup and filled it with the golden liquid. She handed it to Crabbe.

"...do I have to drink the entire thing?" he asked, holding the cup as far away from his mouth as possible.

"Why, yes," Daphne said simply. "The solution isn't effective unless the drinker ingests eight ounces at once."

"Miss Greengrass is correct," Slughorn chuckled. "Though I'm uncertain if it must be delivered in a teacup."

"Wouldn't that be the most innocuous delivery?" Daphne asked. She blinked up at the professor, whose eyebrow raised as he considered it.

"Indeed--quite innocuous. Especially if one's adversary enjoys a sweeter tea." Slughorn looked pleased with her, but Crabbe had paled considerably. "Go on, Mister Crabbe."

Crabbe raised the cup to his lips and sipped tentatively. It tasted sweet and that there were no immediate effects, so he downed the rest of the potion with a gulp. He handed it back to Daphne with a triumphant grin. His pleasure lasted but a moment before his stomach burbled.

"Hick!" The sound echoed through the classroom and the other students tittered. The hiccoughs stole his breath like a slug to the stomach. Each heave brought on another bark. 

"Capital work, Miss Greengrass! You are excused once your workstation is clean." Professor Slughorn filled a vial with the perfect potion and corked it, dropping it into his pocket. He only chose one perfect sample each class, and choosing Daphne's first thing was a coup indeed. 

Daphne scooped the remnants of the spurge-laurel into the bin, along with the stems of the morels and the onion root. Crabbe continued to make auditory fireworks; he grabbed the corner of the desk to stay upright. "Daph--coul--HICK! Could you--HICK! Oh, gods..." Crabbe took a gasping breath and held it, but it was no use. The raucous emissions continued, flapping his lips as the noise escaped. 

She gave him a pitiable look. "Isn't it just too bad that Professor Slughorn hasn't taught us the counter-charm yet? The longer you go on like this, the worse they’ll get." She sighed and Crabbe gave her a murderous look.

"I'll--HICK! Get you for this!"

She ignored him, scourgifying her cauldron. Daphne took one small leaf from the cast-offs into her palm; she pulled the edge of the glove up and around her fingers, encasing the leaf inside. She reached out her other still-gloved fingers and touched Crabbe's hand. "Oops," she said innocently. "I forgot to take off my glove and I've been handling noxious spurge-laurel; you better get to the hospital wing before the welts get too bad." She discreetly cast a sticking charm and cemented him to the desk as his fingers blistered. Crabbe couldn't speak for hiccoughing. He looked around desperately for help but a simple notice-me-not charm from Daphne's wand left him without a savior. His own wand was in his pack and unreachable. She leaned forward to whisper in his ear.

"I was named for _daphne laureola_ , you know, aka common spurge-laurel. This is just a taste of what I can do." Daphne straightened. "You’re a decent fuck, but I’ve had better. If you try anything, that burning sensation you're feeling will find its way to your balls." She flipped her hair and strapped her satchel across her body. “But if you go to the hospital wing like a good boy, maybe I’ll let you snog me in the dungeons later.”

He nodded frantically, pleadingly. She winked. 

"Professor! Will you teach us the Draught of the Living Death this term?" Daphne called brightly as she flounced towards the door.

"I think that's an excellent idea!" Slughorn clapped. "Next week, class. Prepare yourselves!" A groan passed through the group.

Daphne shot one last look at her potions partner, waved the sticking charm away, and freed his festering hand. She blew him a kiss.


End file.
